


Twelvetide 2016: Carols

by Sibilant



Category: Batman (Movies - Nolan), Dark Knight Rises (2012), Inception (2010)
Genre: Advent Calendar Drabble, Drabble Collection, Gen, M/M, Twelvetide, Wordcount: 100
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2017-01-05
Packaged: 2018-09-12 12:03:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 1,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9070816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sibilant/pseuds/Sibilant
Summary: A collection of drabbles written daily between 24 December - 6 January for Twelvetide 2016. This year's prompt theme is carols familiar in the English-speaking world.(Each drabble is 100 words exactly. Despite the chapter format, all are standalone works. Prompt details, pairings, and warnings are included in the notes for each drabble.)





	1. (de)flower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur and Eames discuss a social construct.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Pairing:** Arthur/Eames  
>  **Carol:** Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming

"I've never been fucked by a man before," Eames says, when they're alone at lunch.

Arthur, now accustomed to these verbal ambushes, doesn't even pause in eating. "Yeah? That makes two of us."

Eames stares. "You're saying no bloke ever wanted—"

"They wanted," Arthur says. "I didn't." And then, because he feels responsible for all of Eames' education, not just the dreamshare aspects: "You know anal isn't the be all and end all of gay sex, right?"

"I know," Eames says. "But I want to. I'm eighteen soon. And I want you to—"

"Eames." Arthur looks away, suddenly tired. "Enough."


	2. And Be Merry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Louis C.K. once said, "The meal isn't over when I'm full. The meal is over when I hate myself."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Pairing:** Arthur/Eames  
>  **Carol:** Deck the Halls

Arthur's belt is digging into his waist. In hindsight, it wasn't wise, eating and drinking _that_ much.

He contemplates the crudity of unbuckling in public, before deciding: fuck it. If this tanks his burgeoning relationship with Eames, they were never going to work out anyway.

But Eames simply says, "Thank Christ," when he sees, and follows suit. "I need to get horizontal, asap."

"God, I hope you don't mean that sexually. I'll puke if we try anything."

Eames laughs, then groans slightly. "Come on. Let's go to bed and roll one another into the recovery position."

Arthur grins. "True romance."


	3. Hush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John Blake, on one winter night during the occupation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Pairing:** gen (John Blake-focused)  
>  **Carol:** Silent Night

John has never heard Gotham this quiet.

Before the occupation, no matter the hour, there'd always been noise. Machines hummed, emergency vehicles wailed, and people _lived_ , rather than just surviving.

Now there's nothing, not even screaming, because Bane has given them a holiday grace period. It isn't kindness; it'll only make it all the more devastating, when the executions resume.

In the hush, John's imagination runs wild. Sometimes he thinks he hears the _beep-beep-beep_ of the bomb's countdown. Or that everyone has already died, leaving him alone.

When a scream erupts outside, John breathes easier, and hates himself for it.


	4. Hold Fast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "This great city, it will endure. Gotham will survive."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Pairing:** gen (John Blake-focused)  
>  **Prompt:** People, Look East

Years ago, John's therapist told him grieving sometimes meant taking things day by day, even second by second.

Gotham's recovery is much like that.

Most days, there's progress, the solidarity of Gotham's citizens holding depravity at bay. But then there are times the pendulum swings the other way, and it's all people can do to hold on, counting the seconds until the darkness passes. John does everything he can on those nights: tackling the most desperate cases, keeping vigil through the long midnight hours.

And eventually, he'll see the eastward sky lighten, the approaching dawn steady and inexorable as hope.


	5. A Multifaceted Thing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spiritual conviction, absolute trust, fidelity - faith comes in many forms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Pairing:** gen (pre-slash Bane/Blake if you squint)  
>  **Prompt:** The Wexford Carol

Once, not long after arriving at St Swithin's, John announced he didn't believe in God, Jesus, or anything in the Bible; what he believed in was Batman. It earned him weeks of counselling with Father Reilly, but, even then, John wouldn't recant.

Bane chuckles, mocking, after hearing that story.

"And in return for your faith," he says, "you've been given the central role in Gotham's own resurrection myth. Will you also die for this city's sins one day?"

"If it comes to that." John raises his chin. "It'll be worth it."

Bane gives a non-committal hum, but says nothing more.


	6. Taking Point

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They meet in the military.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Pairing:** Arthur/Eames  
>  **Prompt:** Good King Wenceslas

Less than an hour into the war games, a team of projections take out Eames' men. Eames isn't so lucky; he's half-blind from flash grenades and bleeding out slowly, but very much alive when Arthur finds him.

"Do me a favour," Eames tells Arthur's fuzzy form. "Kill me quickly."

Arthur patches him up instead, saying, "We can still complete the extraction."

"How?" Eames snaps. "I can barely see, and this place is filled with traps."

"Can you see me?" When Eames nods, Arthur stands, hand outstretched. "Then follow me. I'll guide you."

After a moment's hesitation, Eames takes his hand.


	7. Exchange

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is how it goes, in one version of the tale.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Pairing:** Bane/Blake  
>  **Prompt:** In the Bleak Midwinter

Don't venture near  
the mountain,  
say the villagers,  
for a monster lives atop the peak.

John is impervious to  
their warnings.  
It's the monster's knowledge  
that he seeks.

He waits for winter solstice,  
for the darkness will cloak his leaving.

He leaves no letter,  
bids none farewell.  
He has always  
been alone.

Teach me, he says,  
when he reaches the peak,  
and kneels  
at the monster's throne.

But—

You presume too much,  
the monster tells him.  
I have never given my knowledge  
freely.

I'm an orphan, I have nothing,  
John replies.  
All I can give you in exchange is  
me.


	8. Scent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eames goes into heat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Pairing:** Arthur/Eames  
>  **Prompt:** Whence is that Goodly Fragrance

It registers first as a bloom of heat, low in Eames' belly, prompting Eames to make his excuses to everyone.

His scent must be obvious, given the way Arthur watches him as he leaves. But it isn't until Eames calls that Arthur goes to him.

"God, you smell amazing," Arthur says, nosing along Eames' jaw. "And you look even better."

"Flatterer." Eames tips his head back. "I cannot believe you waited for an invitation. We've gone through two cycles together now."

"Didn't want to presume," Arthur says.

"In future," Eames says, "feel free to be as presumptuous as you like."


	9. in living memory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gotham's earth is consecrated with the blood of its dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Pairing:** gen (John Blake-focused)  
>  **Prompt:** Auld Lang Syne

John hears them in the twilight hours, on the banks of Gotham river; in the blind alleys, in the cavernous emptiness of city hall.

 _We're still here,_ they say, voices paper-thin, only inches away from his ear, unseen. _Don't forget us. You were one of us once._

_Listen._

His back prickles at their presence, and the urge to bolt steals over him, but he's a Gotham native. He knows better than to ignore them.

And when he finally dons the cowl, their message changes.

 _Bane is alive,_ they say. _Find him. Don't forget, you have a duty to us, too._


	10. Journeyman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur ponders his future in the wake of the Fischer job.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Pairing:** gen (Arthur-focused)  
>  **Prompt:** I Wonder as I Wander

Arthur sets out on the mountain trail at dawn.

It's overcast, damp, the ground slippery and shrouded by fog. He chooses his steps carefully while considering his options.

He could find another partner. But at thirty-two, the thought of working in someone else's shadow again is unappealing.

He could lead his own jobs. Maybe go legit. But taking point isn't the same as leading. He's never been the ideas man, only refined the ideas of others, and—

His foot slips on an outcrop, and Arthur staggers. Catches himself.

He takes a steadying breath, finds his footing again, and pushes on.


	11. to the victor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After war comes the messy business of peacetime.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Pairing:** pre-slash Arthur/Eames  
>  **Prompt:** The Boar's Head

Eames has spent the whole journey rehearsing.

And so he stays composed, even as he's forced to present his father's war reparations on his knees; to slice the roasted boar for the Empress like a peasant.

But then the Empress' Captain of the Guard - Arthur - pulls Eames aside, and insists he eat first.

"Why?" Eames narrows his eyes. "You believe I'd try to poison your Empress?"

Arthur snorts. "You Northerners. You're so duplicitous, you assume everyone else must be, too. It's our custom that honoured guests eat first."

"I thought I was a political hostage?"

Arthur smiles thinly. "You're both."


	12. Endless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Holiday dinners with the Eames family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Pairing:** gen (Eames-focused)  
>  **Prompt:** The Holly and the Ivy

The dining room is swathed in holly and ivy tonight, vibrant and alive.

They look more alive than you feel.

You sit on your father's right, like every good heir should. He's turned away from you, busy expounding on... something. Your mother sits at the far end, holding court with her group of admirers. They take turns speaking at you, or about you, but never _to_ you.

You gaze at the holly, at its mesmerising red, until something flickers within you, and you knock a candle _just so_.

The ivy centrepiece catches fire, and all eyes are suddenly on you.


End file.
